November 27, 2014

Depending on what source you chose for your weather forecast we were to get either 6 inches or 15 inches. Either way it would be one heck of a nor'easter that would disrupt holiday travel, etc. We got one inch, which is almost melted already. Is it me, or have weather people become ridiculously unreliable? Imagine if I, as a teacher, were allowed to be approximately 50% correct on assessments and goal-setting for my kids. Or a doctor who gets a diagnosis right 50% of the time. Wow.

The problem is that weather forecasters who exaggerate, or maintain the assertion that they can make accurate forecasts for us (often 5 to 10 days out), are costing people happiness, money, and other measurable losses. How many people in this region cancelled flights, or driving plans, and won't be with their loves ones this Thanksgiving because weather reporters confidently said that we'd be swamped with horrible weather? The New York City metropolitan area, which has three major international airports, was told by many TV stations and websites that the nor'easter would be delivering high winds and significant snowfall. In the city there were less than moderate winds, and all they saw was rain mixed with occasional snow flakes that instantly dissolved on the warm city streets.

Some areas of the Catskills saw quite a few inches, which folks dealt with handily, but our area saw only one to two. That, for our region, is hardly worth mentioning, except for its beauty.

Anyway, we hope the forecasts did not hurt your holiday plans. And for those who love snow, we hope you happened to be in a region that got some.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was looking for an image of an emphatic weather person and found this...

... which led to this video. Very worth watching. Now I like weather people again.

November 12, 2014

I put my smart phone in grave danger for this little video. It's propped right next to the small target, just a few inches from the spots I'm hitting. Watching it is odd. It sort of feels like you should get out of the way. The arrows are moving fast!

So far November has been mild and quiet, aside from a day of tree-pruning high winds and rain. We have been enjoying the sweater weather.

For whatever reason, we tend to start multiple projects this time of year and can be remarkably productive. Maybe it's because winter is coming.

This is a simple shelter for the archery target and bales of hay. It'll keep them from getting soaked and rotting. With sides, it can also double for firewood storage. It's 4' by 8'.

And an eight foot bridge crossing the creek. Right now the creek is nearly dry and filled with leaves, but the first snowfall, then melt, will wash all that away.

Finn wants to help clean the gutters.

The bottom-most log end is new. The old one was rotten and was cut out during the deck construction. We had to let the new one season before we stained it. Over time it will more like the rest of the logs.